Spunk Fitness Silver Spring

You don’t have to look far to see an advertisement for a new workout formula that promises to give you more energy, help you workout longer, burn more calories, and see more ‘gains.’ The presence of these supplements can’t help but make you wonder if they’ll provide any benefits to your workouts (obviously, some people use them), especially if you’ve recently become more committed to improving your fitness. If you do decide to give them a try, the sheer number of formulas on the market can further add to the confusion of the differences between them, and which one is right for you. There’s no perfect answer to these questions, but some general guidelines will help you navigate this important topic. What Does a Pre-Workout Formula Contain? Pre-workout formulas may contain any combination of the following ingredients: Carbohydrates in the form of sugars or powdered starches Proteins isolates such as whey or casein Caffeine and other stimulants Specific amino acids like creatine, beta-ala...

Regardless of what time of day you prefer, exercising is a healthy habit that is crucial to your overall health, so it doesn’t really matter when you do it. Plus, many of our Spunk Fitness locations are open 24 hours a day, so you can make the most out of your gym membership, whichever time of day you prefer to workout. However, there are certain benefits and disadvantages for working out at any given time of day: In The Morning Some studies suggest that working out before breakfast causes your body to burn more fat because it does not have the carbohydrates of food to burn, so if your goal is weight loss, you may want to workout first thing in the morning. Additionally, there is some research to suggest that working out in the morning helps you sleep better. Several studies showed that people who worked out in the morning spent more time in deeper sleep than those who worked out in the afternoon or evening. However, muscle strength is at its lowest in the morning, so if you are trying...

Sit ups are a well-known move used in the workout routines of military men, body builders, and everyday fitness center enthusiasts. One of the greatest advantages of the sit up is its ability to tone and sculpt the muscles of the rectus abdominus – otherwise known as the “six pack.” It also works the transverse abdominus, hip flexors, and rectus femoris located in the quads. While doing sit ups alone won’t give you a six pack, they certainly play an important role, and are moves anyone can do, virtually anywhere, with no equipment. Sit ups might look easy, but there are still a few ways you can go wrong. Just like any other exercise, it’s important to know the proper form in order to get the most out of your workout and avoid injuries. Let’s take a look at proper sit up form. Basic Sit Up Form Sit ups start with your body on the ground, so make sure you’re on a padded surface that’s comfortable for your back, head, and tailbone. An exercise mat at the health club or a lightly carpeted ...

As a fitness center, we are well aware that trying to lose weight comes with many frustrations. Sometimes, you make steady progress, and at other times, you may plateau with your weight loss. When you are feeling stuck on your weight loss journey, here are some small simple changes you can make to your diet that will help you lose weight: Drink lemon water Drinking water in general is good for weight loss as it makes you feel fuller and helps you eat less. However, adding some lemon to your water may in fact have added weight loss benefits. Lemon speeds your metabolism, so you can burn more calories. Drink three liters of lemon water every day and be amazed at how much easier it is to burn calories. Eat a salad every day Try replacing one meal a day with a salad to see an improvement in your weight loss. This gives you extra veggies that you may not be getting from your usual go-to lunch, and gives you more fiber so you feel fuller for longer. Eat more often It may seem counterintuitiv...

When you are trying to increase muscle tone, you must consider both your exercise routine and your nutrition. When it comes to exercise, Spunk Fitness can help! Come into our health club today for exercise tips to build muscle mass. On the nutrition side, here are some nutrients you need to make sure are in your diet: Vitamin C Vitamin C helps with the health of the blood vessels. The blood vessels supply the muscles with the oxygen and nutrients they need. Healthy blood vessels help you recover from exercise more quickly. Vitamin C is also one of the building blocks of collagen, which helps build your skin, bones, and muscles. It is recommended that you get at least 75 mg a day. Try eating a cup of strawberries or a medium-sized orange. Fish Oil Omega-3s are the fatty acids found in fish oil, and they are a very powerful tool for building muscles. They increase the blood flow to the muscle, reduce the breakdown of muscle protein, and decrease inflammation during recovery. You can take...

It is important to warm up before a workout and take the time you need to recover from exercise because it takes a toll on your body over time. One way to address both the need to prepare for a workout and to recover from a workout is to do certain yoga poses before and after every workout. Why yoga? Yoga is helpful for both warmup and recovery. For warmup, yoga primes your muscles for exercise, ensuring your body is ready for the stress of exercise. Yoga also helps your balance and agility, putting you in a good position before your workout. For recovery, yoga allows oxygen to flow to hard to reach places to aid healing. How To Incorporate Yoga Into Your Workout Before your workout, start with some yoga poses to prime your muscles. Below, we will go over some good poses to do both before and after working out on the two most popular machines at our fitness club. Then, complete your workout. Once you have finished, gently ease into your first post-workout pose. Both warm up and recover...

One common reason people get a gym membership is to lose weight. At Spunk Fitness, we love being a resource for our members looking to lose weight, and we are happy to provide the support, advice, and information you need to change your life. However, there is only so much that we can do to help you lose weight; you need to help yourself. This is easier said than done, because in the face of stress and temptation, it is difficult for most people to stay motivated. Here are some ways you can stay motivated on your weight loss journey: Don’t focus on the number on the scale When you are trying to lose weight, you want to see immediate, quantified results, so it can seem like a good idea to keep stepping on the scale to see them. However, the scale is not always the most accurate measure of your weight loss. If you are using strength training as part of your fitness routine, you may actually see yourself gaining weight, as muscle weighs more than fat. This doesn’t mean that you aren’t mak...

We can all stand to drink more water. Besides making up 60 percent of our bodies, it’s vital for most daily processes, including the distribution of nutrients to muscles after a hard workout at the fitness center. Obviously, drinking water hydrates us, but did you know it can also boost your metabolism? Detox diets take advantage of water’s toxin-flushing abilities, but it can do more for your waistline than that. How? By adding key natural ingredients. Unlike commercial vitamin waters that have large amounts of added sugars and artificial additives, these are ingredients you can put in your fitness gym water bottle that will actually help burn calories instead of adding them. Not only will these foods boost your metabolism; they’ll add some flavor to your boring water and replenish electrolytes lost from sweat. Whatever your taste preferences, there’s something in this list for everyone. 1.    Citrus Fruit Lemon is well-known as one of the key detoxifying substances use...

A study conducted in 2000 revealed that Americans gain an average 1.5 pounds between two key holidays – Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. While this isn’t too surprising, the trend can start as early as September or October if you’re tempted by sugary seasonal treats like pumpkin spice lattes, baked apple pies, Halloween candy, and warm comfort foods like casseroles and pastas. Combine an intake of richer foods with less activity due to colder weather, crazier school-year schedules, and spectator events like football, and what do you get? A recipe for fall weight gain. The good news is that a seasonal expansion isn’t mandatory. The following strategies can keep you from falling back into bad habits and maintain your hard work at the fitness center all the way through the gauntlet of tasty fall temptations.  Here’s what we recommend. Keep Your Activity Levels from Falling It’s a natural tendency to move less once fall hits. You no longer have to be beach-ready, and if you’re an outdo...

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Most of us have experienced the frustration of knee pain or knee injuries at some point in our fitness journey. Women are about 10 times more likely to suffer an ACL injury than men, a statistic John Hopkins recently linked to lower testosterone. Others might have a family history of arthritis and other joint problems that predispose them to this frustrating problem. Whatever your situation, you shouldn’t have to resign yourself to a lifetime of knee pain or feel like you’re always one step away from a knee injury. By strengthening and protecting your knees, you can keep them healthy and happy for your daily fitness center workouts. Here’s how. 1.    Choose the Right Shoes, On and Off the Court Shoes that are unsupportive, don’t fit well, or are simply wrong for the activity you’re doing can compromise your knees. For instance, women who wear heels all day at work place strain on their calves and quadriceps, which are attached to the knee. When working out, choose your sh...

Just like peanut butter goes with jelly and Barack goes with Michelle, you and your workout buddy just make sense together. Whether you jog together in the morning, hit a fitness class over lunch, or pump iron after dinner, your workout buddy is your cheerleader, therapist, and personal trainer, all rolled into one. Without an excellent workout buddy, many of us wouldn’t be able to achieve our fitness goals. Here are some of the reasons why you should take some time out of your day today to give a shoutout to this special person in your life. They make you show up One of the most important ways a workout buddy can help you with your fitness goals is by actually forcing you to show up. This doesn’t mean that your buddy has to pound on your front door to physically drag you to every workout; in general, social pressure is sufficient to motivate us to workout. You may feel the strong need to skip your fitness class after work, but the thought of your workout buddy in class alone and disap...

Are you feeling left out because you don’t have a personal fitness tracker yet? Don’t be. If you have a smartphone, there are a number of free or cheap mobile apps that have some of the same features: calorie tracking, activity tracking, heart rate monitoring, and even customized workouts to help you reach your fitness goals. What’s more, a number of these apps are especially useful for maximizing your workout time at the fitness center. Tracking Apps Just like personal fitness trackers, many apps can help you track calories, workouts and fitness stats all in one location. Some even sync with popular fitness trackers so you won’t have to enter information twice. A few general fitness and nutrition tracking apps you might want to check out include My Fitness Pal, the FitBit app, and the “Lose It!” app. As with dedicated trackers, you’ll want to keep your smartphone on you at all times so the apps can give you credit for all your activity both in and outside the fitness gym. Coaching and...

Lifting weights is pretty uncomplicated: pick a weight, choose a move, and crank out as many reps as you can. Other than making sure to use proper lifting technique and, if you’re lifting really heavy, grabbing a friend at the fitness center to spot for you, there’s not much to it. No fancy machinery necessary, no formula to figure out -- just you and some iron. But, like most types of exercise, there are plenty of opinions on the ‘best’ way to do it. One of the main areas where opinions differ is in the choice of weight and number of reps. Some swear by using heavy weight and low reps, while others say the fastest way to get ripped is to use lighter weights with more reps. So which is the best, and why? The simple answer is both! Each has its own purpose, but both types of lifting are beneficial to everyone, at every fitness level. Although there’s enough information on the science of weight lifting strategy to keep you reading for weeks, here’s a basic breakdown of the differences be...

Now that the holidays are in full swing, the struggle to keep our nutrition and fitness center workouts in line is bound to get challenging. Meal planning and prepping are key to maintaining progress toward fitness goals through this season, since how we eat most of the time has the greatest impact on our body composition. Having covered meal planning and shopping, let’s look at some tips for effective meal prepping to help it all come together and keep you lean and mean through the holidays. 1. Know how much time you have (and need) to prep meals, and plan accordingly. Knowing what you’re eating for breakfast, lunch, and dinner all week saves time in and of itself, but if you’re planning to eat “real” unprocessed food, it will also require some advanced prep time. First, look at your meals and calculate the time commitment they require – no prep time, ten minutes of prep time, one hour, etc. Then look at your schedule and decide which days and meals you will or won’t have the time for...